Reports of 2000 to 2004 snowfalls I found in The Advertiser and the Sunday Mail on the Newstext website, supplemented with some items from my weather diary and elsewhere.

Please note - the preamble for this post is the same as it is for the previous post "1990 to 2000 inclusive - SA snowfalls" except that I added "snow and mid-north", "snow and hallett", "snow and bryan", and "snow and remarkable" to the keywords on Newstext I used for the search for snow events from 2004 to 2004 inclusive. So I won't repeat the preamble in this post, except to say that as for the 1990s I didn't search the various Messenger newspapers on Newstext, for the reasons outlined in the aforementioned preamble.

Also South Australian threads on the Weatherzone forums appear to have started sometime in 2001 and I haven't done a thorough search of those in the period 2001 to 2004. There may be in those threads reports of snowfalls that didn't make it into the Newstext database or otherwise come to my attention. Searching those threads is a very fiddly and time-consuming job due to the numerous mentions of the word snow they contain that don't refer to reports of SA snowfalls, and it's a task for the future.

Now to the reports of snowfalls I've found for the individual years.

2000

I could find reference to only one snow event from 1st April to 1st December 2000, on Saturday 27th May.

The dates to keep in mind for this event are:Friday 26th May when a cold front crossed southern South Australia with extremely cold air to follow, with some gale-force winds, rain showers, and some hail.Saturday 27th May when snow showers were reported from Mt Lofty and vicinity, and in some Mid-North locations, and "Some snow on the ground was reported from the S-E on Saturday" (source of quote - my weather diary).

First, I quote from a report from Laurier Williams' website "Australian Weather News" http://australianweathernews.com on this weather event from the perspective of South-Eastern Australia: it says "A massive surge of polar air swept from South Australia into Victoria and New South Wales today, bringing gales, snow, heavy rain and record low daytime temperatures." To find the report on Laurier's website, look for the link to "Daily Weather Summaries" on the home page. See Footnote 1 at the foot of this page for an important disclaimer notice on Laurier's website.

The strongest polar outbreak in May for many years arrived on the South Australian and western Victorian coasts today, bringing gales, hail, and very low daytime temperatures. The cold front arrived on the South Australian coast around dawn, and was followed by wintry hail showers, isolated thunderstorms and strong SW winds, which gusted to 113km/h on Neptune Island, at the mouth of Spencer Gulf. Adelaide Airport recorded a 10-minute average wind of 72km/h around 7am, soon after the front swept through. Heavy hail showers whitened the top of Mt Lofty, where winds gusted to 100km/h as the temperature dropped to 4° by midday. The change arrived on the western Victorian coast in the early afternoon, reinforced by a rapidly developing low just to the south. At Portland, the temperature dropped as low as 3.5° at 2.22pm as a wintry shower dumped 9.2mm on the town in 10 minutes. Heavy showers continued, giving Portland's Cashmere Airport 41mm between noon and 9pm as the low wound up. It deepened to 982hPa by late evening as it moved away down the western Tasmanian coast.{end of quote}

{and I quote}

Saturday 27 May 2000Polar outbreak spreads from SA into Victoria and NSW ...

A massive surge of polar air swept from South Australia into Victoria and New South Wales today, bringing gales, snow, heavy rain and record low daytime temperatures.

South Australians were greeted by the unusual spectacle of snow settling on the ground. At Yongala, in the higher parts of the northern Mt Lofty Ranges 200km north of Adelaide and 515m above sea level, snow fell for several hours around dawn, while snow also fell overnight around Mt Lofty, just east of the capital. 2cm of snow was reported on the ground near Hallett, with 10cm on Mt Bryan, just east of the town. Cold squally southwesterly winds, hail, heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms continued through the day, with Neptune Island reporting gale force winds until around 2pm, and a top wind gust of 115km/h at 7.20am. Hail created icy driving conditions in places, and caused three accidents on the Princes Highway near Salt Creek on the Coorong, while downed trees caused a serious accident on the Millicent to Penola road early Sunday morning.

The Mt Lofty summit automatic weather station set a new South Australian record low May maximum temperature when the sensor only rose to 3.5° during the day. Warooka on Yorke Peninsula and Eudunda in the northern Barossa Valley both recorded record low minimum temperatures for May, despite the windy conditions. Mount Gambier's top temperature during the day was 6.6°, well below its record low May maximum of 8.3 set in 1952. However, the temperature rose overnight to peak at 9° around 4am Sunday, robbing the city of a new record as the Australian weather "day" is for 24 hours to 9am on the next calendar day. Similarly, the Adelaide Bureau Regional Forecasting Centre at Kent Town recorded a top of 11.1, beating the previous record of 11.2 set as far back as 1892 at a slightly different location, but a rising temperature overnight increased the official figure to 12.5°.{end of quote}

{and I quote}

Sunday 28 May 2000Massive polar outbreak affects 5 states 02June00Australian May low maximum temperature record broken -- thrice!"{end quote}. This section includes some charts, and an "Infrared satellite cloud animation hourly from 10.30am EST Saturday to 8.30pm today [Sunday]. NPMOC" and a meteorological explanation of the cold outbreak. Good reading and viewing for those interested in snow-producing cold outbreaks in South-Eastern Australia.

There's doubtless more information in print and perhaps on the internet about this cold outbreak for anyone who wants to research it, and also television footage which might still be available to view. There are some photos in the Sunday Mail which I haven't seen and probably there would be some in other newspapers of the time.

Now here are brief extracts from two Sunday Mail articles, which I accessed on the News Limited Newstext website.

"An icy blast of air from the ocean off Antarctica made yesterday the coldest May day on record, shattering the 11.2-degree maximum set in 1892. ... just 11.1 degrees ... .The freezing winds saw snow fall in the Adelaide Hills through to the Mid North, with good falls reported at Mt Bryan and Hallett and a light sprinkle on Mt Lofty. Falls were reported at Jamestown and Peterborough ... .As records were set around the State, Mt Gambier had the lowest maximum - 6 degrees ... ."

"... The bulk of the autumn snowfalls fell at Hallett, 200km north of Adelaide, and nearby Jamestown ... . ... Mt Bryan, which locals said was knee-deep in snow at 3pm yesterday. Hallett farmer Tony Sumner said families had been tobogganing on rubber tubes since early morning. "Snow was falling all day on Mt Bryan ...'' At Brownhill, east of Jamestown, about 7cm of snow has fallen, while dustings were also reported at Peterborough, Mt Lofty and Crafers. ... Forecaster Graham Cowan said the snowfalls in the Mid North were only the third in 45 years. The previous ones occurred in 1987 and in 1955." [ in May ]

I would think the headline "Icy country knee-deep in snow" should be interpreted in the context of our overall experiences with the media's reporting of snow in South Australia. I haven't seen any evidence that knee-deep snow, if there was any that deep, extended beyond Mt Bryan.

Now for entries in my weather diary.

I have no recollection of having chased or seen snow during this event. I was living in the Adelaide suburb of Payneham at the time so may have mostly observed the weather from there and from media sources of varying reliability.

Here's what I wrote in my weather diary. I've inserted a few explanatory comments in brackets [...].

On Thursday 25th May 2000 I wrote:"Front developing in bight with very cold air behind it coming right up from Antarctica."

On Friday 26th I wrote:"13.7 max but much of day it was around 10 degrees. One heavy and several lighter showers before dawn as a front slowly passes heading NE, with a deep very cold SW airstream establishing during the day. Moderate to fresh SW to S winds, 13 degrees early but 10 or 11 for much of day, a few showers with a bit of small hail, typical deep SW airflow type cumulus, temp down to approx 2 degrees top Mt Lofty by 6p and zero by midnight with some wet snow 1am Saturday morning. Severe wind warning issued for many southern land areas. Deep low south of SA, large high with fetch from Antarctica SW of Western Australia."

On Saturday 27th I wrote: "Saturday min 5 and a half, max 11.1, around 8-10 degrees for most of day, lower during showers. Occasional showers with a bit of small hail. Overnight and early this morning, snow in mid-north briefly stayed on ground, some snow showers Mt Lofty area, local road ice problems eg hills, near Murray Bridge, due to hail. Winds SW, mod-fresh-strong, occasionally gale. During day - at least one good snow shower on Mt Lofty, sufficient for snow-fights, snowmen etc. In mid-north eg Hallett, Peterborough - higher hills were white for a while. Only the fourth time since records began it's snowed in May. [I don't know if that refers to SA generally or only to the Mid-North]. It was typical deep SW airstream cumulus indespersed with blue sky periods. Max 11.1 coldest May day in Adelaide since records began. ... "[I don't think it snowed on Saturday night but I'm not sure about that].

On Sunday 28th I wrote: "... Extensive snowfalls in eastern states but no snow in SA today, the big iced cumulus shower clouds have moved to east."

On Monday 29th I wrote: "Some snow on the ground was reported from the S-E on Saturday. Mt Gambier max for Saturday 9 degrees."

{end of quotes from my weather diary}

Here's a quote from a brief article published by The Advertiser on Tuesday 23rd May:The AdvertiserEdition 1 - STATETUE 23 MAY 2000, Page 006Freeze with a hint of snow

"SOUTH Australian peaks may be dusted in a shower of snow on Friday, when icy Antarctic winds bring a cold snap to the state.The Bureau of Meteorology says high ground, such as the Mt Lofty Ranges, may suffer freezing conditions late on Friday, when the cold-weather system is expected to strike."If it gets close to zero degrees there should be snow falling, but I don't know if it will stay on the ground,'' senior meteorologist John Nairn said last night." {end of quote}

This turned out to be pretty close to the mark :-)

2001

I didn't find any references to a fall of snow in SA in 2001 in a search of The Advertiser and Sunday Mail articles in the Newstext database from 1st April to 1st December. Nor did I find any reference in my weather diary to a snowfall in SA in 2001. In the entry for 8th September 2001, I wrote a paragraph giving my impressions of the winter just gone, including "... no snow ... only one or two southerly outbursts and none cold enough to produce snow".

In the Weatherzone forums I found the following post by member "berga1987", post number #1271168, posted on 28/07/2014 on this page . His post was in response to a post of mine referring to snow in the South-East."That is fantastic to read about snow in the south east. The only time I can remember anything close was in August in 2001 or 2002 there was some sleet and wet snow in the middle of a freezing cold thunderstorm that lasted maybe 10-15 seconds and was visible from the second story classrooms at Naracoorte high school."

As far as I know there's no digital publications of the local newspapers most likely to report snowfalls in the South-East from 2001 or 2002 online, so I'm not able to say if they reported any snow in either of those years.

2002

The results of my search for 2002 are pretty much the same as for 2001. I didn't find any references to a fall of snow in SA in 2002 in a search of The Advertiser and Sunday Mail articles in the Newstext database from 1st April to 1st December. Nor did I find any reference in my weather diary to a snowfall in SA in 2002.

The same comments I made about berga1987's post number #1271168 for 2001 just above, also applies to 2002.

2003

There was one standout snow event in 2003, due not to the volume of snow that fell but to the rarity of the causes of the fall, and I've found reports of two other snowfalls.

This is how the report begins:""SNOW!!:10th August 2003 Snow in a northerly?!?!?!"(quote from Tim Thorpe on his website hillsrain.com)

In what may have been the most bizarre and unlikely snow event in SA's recorded history, on Sunday 10th August 2003 light snow was recorded on high ground in many places in South Australia with a north-east to northerly wind blowing! This was no deep southerly or south-westerly airstream bringing cold unstable air from the far southern ocean, but a quite different weather system."

I didn't go snowchasing on the day, but I did keep a close eye on the Mt Crawford automatic weather station as the temperature fell progressively closer to zero and when I started seeing reports of snow falling at various locations you could have knocked me over with a snowflake! Snow in a north-east to northerly wind - I've said in the past that in SA it could never happen! But it did :-)

Now turning to the first of the two other snowfalls reported in 2003, on 24th and 25th July, the references I found are in a thread in the Weatherzone forums. The following posts include most of the content referring directly to snow but for anyone researching this event in detail it would pay to read the entire thread. The thread is called " SA Cold fronts/hail/storms 22-25th July. Its address at the time of writing this on 20th September 2014 is http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/topics/742148/1

{Selectively quoting}

SA Cold fronts/hail/storms 22-25th JulyteckertLoc: NE suburbs, Adelaide, South Au..."Started this thread as Lennie is out fishing!! Plus the other thread will cover more about flippin' snow than anything thats relevant over here.

After yesterday's prelude of hail and storms this event is shaping up as the best winter outbreak this year. That cold pool hitting WA coastline looks like will smack us head-on tomorrow morning causing heavy showers, hail and storms. Should get 10-30mm across all agricultural areas by Friday. Maybe even higher totals in the hills and SE.Thicknesses are as low as I've seen them in years over us, although they have been downgraded a bit. BOM still suggesting snow on higher ground in the Flinders on Wednesday night but I reckon chance on the Adelaide Hills as well.TT's are also the highest I've seen with most of the state in the 60's and up to high 60's in the south. All up the system shows a lot of promise and so far models have all held it together and it looks like it should pay off. Should be some wet and wild weather in the next 72 hours.

Initial showers should start appearing in Adelaide area soon after dark tonight I think before the main stuff arrives in the early hours of tomorrow. Another front is then due on Thursday before a short fine spell over the weekend."

Re: SA Cold fronts/hail/storms 22-25th July#742120 - 22/07/2003 03:24 PMThunderstruckLoc: Seaford Meadows, SAWELL! Im back from fishing and not a happy chappy, not only did we catch nothing apart from algae all the time and some stupid crabs (one also caught my toe mad ) but the one day, (Murphy always strikes) I leave teh city, is the one day we score a spanking hailstorm. Mum kept some stones and i was shocked at their size, a few of them were 2cm, which is severe, I couldnt believe it. Only 1.5mm in gauge and she said no thunder here. I saw about 3 or 4 flashes 5mins apart about 50km wswish of the Murray Mouth/Goolwa beach area.Bring on 2moro.TS cool"

Re: SA Cold fronts/hail/storms 22-25th July#742137 - 24/07/2003 11:03 AMpaisleyLoc: Magill campus Uni SA (w) & Fir...Just heard on the radio that there was a light dusting of snow on Mt Remarkable (965m) in the Southern Flinders last night. A guy from Melrose said that it started falling around 5pm during a cold snap and that possibly several cm fell.Apparently there have also been reports of snow in the Clare area. Don't think it settled though. Conditions have moderated somewhat although the air is well chilled here for just about the first time in this mild mild winter. Mt Lofty is sittling in the 4-5 degree range which is still a few degrees too warm to consider a run up there...P"

Re: SA Cold fronts/hail/storms 22-25th JulyPost #742148 - 25/07/2003 05:23 PMSmitty"Ok Snow fell on the Freeway near the Crafers and Mt Lofty exit. I took pictures (mostly oh hail) but missed the actual snow falling due to a car accident on the Freeway (guess drivers in adelaide arent use to driving in the snow and icy conditions). I arrived at the summit so see a few sprinkles of snow on the leaves of trees but then a big hail storm came through and just left hail everywhere!Hopefully i will have the pictures for you soon."

{end of selective quoting}

I couldn't find a post with the photos but apparently they were posted somewhere.

The latest of the falls in 2003, on Saturday 30th August, was reported in the Sunday Mail.

Here are a couple of brief quotes from the article including the only ones that mention the snow (additional to the "Ice and snow havoc" headline).

"Bureau of Metereology senior forecaster Graham Crooks said a road weather alert was issued for the South-Eastern Freeway as a result of the hail and ice on the road."The minimum temperature at Kent Town was 6.9C at 7.14am,'' Mr Crooks said.Meanwhile, Crafers was covered in a dusting of snow early yesterday.Proprietor of the Topz Shops deli on the main road, Jacqueline Ludgate, said it was a "gorgeous sight'' and the first snow she had seen there in two years."and"ICE on the road caused widespread havoc for motorists on the South-Eastern Freeway yesterday morning."

Visions of wrecked cars and trucks and emergency vehicles scattered along the freeway right through the Hills, but no, we learn that "Police spokeswoman Anne Lambert said the collisions were relatively minor and no injuries were reported." Media hype is probably good for sales but it's really unhelpful when it comes to learning about our past history!

2004

For 2004 I found no references to any snowfalls by searching Newstext, my weather diary, and my collection of miscellaneous references to snow events gathered from various sources and posted into this website.

"Well this is interesting. Just got an email from a one of the Rain Posters on my website who lives up near Moculta. Quite high altitude wise out that way and it gets cold. Anyway, to quote his email.."At 8.30am we had a hail shower followed by rain and flakes of snow. The snow lasted for about 5 minutes but melted on hitting the ground."

Re my post above where it says "Now turning to the first of the two other snowfalls reported in 2003, on 24th and 25th July, I've found some more information about this event, in a "daily weather summary" entry on Laurier Williams' Australian Weather News website.

The Wednesday 23rd "daily weather summary" entry mentioning snow in SA is on the page http://australianweathernews.com/news/2003/030723.SHTML and there are also entries for subsequent days when snow fell in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. The reference to snow in South Australia says:

Date:"Wednesday 23 JUL 2003""There were radio reports of light snow in SA overnight into Thursday. A light dusting was reported on Mt Remarkable, altitude 965m, southeast of Port Augusta. Snow, falling but not settling, was reported from higher country around Clare in the central north. Brief light snow fell in the Adelaide Hills near Crafar, and light hail showers were extensive across the southeast of the state during the day."

I presume "Crafar" refers to "Crafers". In the Weatherzone thread posts, there's a report of snow falling near Crafers on Friday 25th but I didn't see any report of snow falling in or near Crafers on Wednesday 23rd or Thursday 24th.

Included in the Australian Weather News reports are some surface charts and infrared satellite images for this weather system. Here is a gif file with the 12 surface charts displayed in animated sequence or you can see the 12 individual charts posted below. If you click on the link it should run in your browser once it loads. Gif files sometimes need to be run twice to get all the images to appear correctly. Each of the images in this one are set to display for four seconds.

Now moving on to the infra-red satellite hourly image loops for 23rd, 24th and 25th posted in the Australian Weather News report.

Above is the Wednesday 23 July 2003 satpic loop (gif file), which includes to my eye a cold pool bullseying much of the southern half of South Australia. The caption for it reads: "IR satellite hourly images (1200, 1700, 1900, 2100, 2300 missing). While cold air spirals around the Low onto the SA coast, cloud rapidly develops over western NSW in uplift ahead of the front and streams SE into VIC and TAS." Times are EST. The file source is Laurier Williams' Australian Weather News website on the page http://australianweathernews.com/news/2003/030723.SHTML

Above: animated gif file of IR satellite hourly images for 24th July 2003. The caption reads: "IR satellite hourly images for the day. A cloudband develops in the uplift ahead of the front, bringing further snow to the NSW, VIC and TAS highlands. Speckled cloud denoting wintry cumulus clouds streams in over SA and western VIC to gradually dissipate over land." The file source is Laurier Williams' Australian Weather News website on the page http://australianweathernews.com/news/2003/030724.SHTML

Above: animated gif file of IR satellite hourly images for 25th July 2003. The caption for it reads in part: "IR satellite hourly images (1300 missing). The cloudband that produced yesterday's rain event flings out into the Tasman Sea , thickening and broadening as cold air undercuts a conveyor belt of moist tropical northerlies ahead of the front. Some of the cloudband wraps around the low moving down the Tasmanian West Coast, while large blobs moving eastwards across Victoria are huge cumulonimbus tops close to the head of this classic mid-latitude comma-cloud. Behind the second cold front, the cloud is relatively stratiform and unbroken at first, but becomes progressively more speckled and cumuliform as it pushes northeast under colder upper air. In the last few frames, white speckles in the centre of this cloud field show that strong instability is pushing the cloud tops into higher, colder levels." The source of the file is Laurier Williams' Australian Weather News website on the page http://australianweathernews.com/news/2003/030725.SHTML

I searched the Trove database for reports of snow falling in South Australia in October 1899, having noticed a reference to snow in October 1899 on the internet. I found reports of snow falling on two or three separate occasions in October. I'm wondering if not all the reported snow dates are correct, hence my uncertainty about the number of snow events. Here are the reports I found.

This reference appears to refer to snow at (?or near) Penwortham on or before October 14th 1899.

RAIN, HAIL, AND SNOW.Severe and wintry weather has been experienced throughout the colony today. Hailstorms of great violence have been frequent in the city, and in various parts of the colony falls of snow are reported. Tonight it is bitterly cold and squally.

"THE WEATHER.The rain which fell on Wednesday morning is, according to Sir Charles Todd, only a series of coastal showers, with a high barometer. It extended from the Burra southwards, but only a few points were registered at places north of Adelaide, where a quarter of an inch fell during the night and morning. At Franklin Harbor over one-third of an inch fell during the night. A remarkable feature of the weather on Wednesday was the intense cold which prevailed, especially in the hills. Snow fell at Mount Lofty and Stirling West at about midday, the fall lasting three-quarters of an hour, and for a time completely covering the ground with a mantle of white. According to our shipping reporter, a similar phenomenon occurred in the Gulf. When the ship St. Berrin arrived the men were snowballing each other, hail and snow having covered the deck to a depth of about two inches as the vessel was coming up the Gulf. Near the city some light showers of hail fell, accompanied by a chilling wind, quite unusual at this period of the year. Our Victorian telegrams announce that snow was reported from various parts of that colony on Wednesday."

Two of these three reports of snow refer to October 25th and one to October 26th. My guess is the Carey's Gully reference should be to the 25th and not the 26th but I have no actual evidence to back this up. All three reports could refer to the correct dates.

CAREY'S GULLY, October 26.—The weather continues cold and showery. This morning there was a heavy hailstorm, and this was followed by a snowstorm. BASKET RANGE, October 26.—Yesterday forenoon snow began to fall, and hail in abundance followed. URAIDLA, October 25.— About 10.30 a.m. to-day a shower of hailstones was experien- ced. This was followed an hour later by a fall of snow, which continued for over an hour. The sight was a grand one, especially to young Australians, unaccustomed to the sight of a snowstorm.

"Penwortham, October 28 [Saturday]. It has been bitterly cold all the week, and on Tuesday [24th] we had a few nice showers and the second fall of snow. On Wednesday [25th] we experienced the heaviest hailstorm for the year, some of the hills having a snow-clad appearance for a considerable time. On Thursday morning we had another severe frost. The prospects just at present are not very cheer..g."

While on the topic of October snowfalls, here's a report of a light fall of snow on the summit of Mt Lofty on Sunday 30th October 1949. There's still hope for those of us who haven't seen a flake of snow falling this 2014 season

"Snow Climax To Rough OctoberSnow at Mount Lofty capped the last week-end of a rough and wet October. In addition, sharp downpours added to Adelaide's record rain total and squalls overturned yachts and blew down country power lines. A light fall of snow on the summit was reported by Mt. Lofty residents yesterday afternoon. The light flakes were seen falling, but melted before they rested on the ground. A resident said that it was like a mid-winter day at Mt. Lofty. The summit was enveloped in cloud for most of the day. "

"Snow In Other States ADELAIDE, Nov. 3: The lowest November temperature for 25 years was recorded in Adelaide at 5.30 a.m. today, with a reading of 42deg. Nearly half an inch of snow fell on the Mt. Lofty summit and many districts reported overnight hailstorms. Squally winds reached up to 50m.p.h. in intermittent gusts throughout the night. Falls of more than 2in. of rain already this month, following record October gaugings, are now causing anxiety among hills fruit-growers."

{quoting the snow-relevant part of the article after correcting it on Trove}

BLEAK DAY FOR CITY "Topsy Turvy" November

"In the topsy-turvy weather being experienced over a large part of Australia, Adelaide yesterday suffered its coldest November day on record, Mount Lofty had half an inch of snow, and bleak conditions are reported from New South Wales, Victoria and Canberra. Adelaide's maximum temperature of 57 degrees was the lowest for November since records began in 1870, and the minimum of 42 degrees was the lowest November recording for 25 years. In parts of SA, phenomenal November rain is following the record October falls. Stirling West, which headed the State with 1,068 points last month, has already had 206 points in the past three days. Adelaide yesterday had sharp showers driven by a bitter south-westerly. The city recorded 35 points of rain to 8.30 a.m. yesterday morning, with an additional 10 points during the day. Since water restrictions were about to come into operation a few weeks ago, Adelaide has had record October rains and in the first three days of November has already recorded 79 points—two-thirds of the average November rainfall. A hailstorm cleared the snow at Mount Lofty shortly before 7 a.m. Clare, where the lowest tem- perature in the State—32 degrees—was recorded yesterday morning, reported light snow and sleet. Minimum temperatures generally were in the low forties. The lowest maximum for the State was 49 degrees at Stirling West. With a maximum temperature of 50.8 degrees, yesterday was the coldest November day at Mount Gambier for at least 32 years. Renmark had its coldest November day on record. Cloudy and cold conditions with further showers and south west to south winds are forecast for today."

{quoting the South Australian snow-relevant part of the article after correcting it on Trove}

"Snow In Heart Of City

Light show, which melted before it touched the ground, was observed to fall for about a minute in North terrace at 12.3 p.m. yesterday. Mr. G. H. Eckers, of Brunswick street, Walkerville North, reported seeing the snow while waiting with other men in the doorway of Airways House. One of his companions, an Englishman, confirmed the phenomenon as snow."

"Half an inch of snow fell on Mount Lofty summit about 6.30 a.m. today, but a hailstorm had melted it by 7.30."

I was not able to find references to snow falling in any places in South Australia other than the summit of Mt Lofty, Clare and the report from Adelaide verified by an Englishman but not otherwise corroborated. Given that snow was reported at Clare one may speculate whether it fell in some other locations in the Mid-North and southern Flinders Ranges and this simply didn't reach the papers or wasn't reported by the papers.

Snow was also reported at Melrose but judging by the first article below where it says "Snow fell on Mount Lofty and Mount Remarkable, Melrose ... ", this may have been a careless dropping of "Mount Remarkable" from the original source report. I wonder how many times in our recorded history snow has been reported at Melrose when it actually fell on Mt Remarkable. Now here are the snow-relevant articles I found on Trove. I didn't extend my search to weather bureau weather maps and accompanying reports so if anyone is researching this event in detail that's a further potential source on Trove to investigate.

"Snow At Melrose And Mt. LoftySnow fell on Mount Lofty and Mount Remarkable, Melrose, yesterday, but the Divisional Meteorologist (Mr. Bromley) said that the temperature, although unusually cool for this time of the year, was by no means unprecedented The minimum air reading in Adelaide was 44 degrees. Snow had been known to fall in this State in the middle of November, Mr. Bromley said. Hail and frosts were reported from scattered areas throughout the State yesterday."

"Northern Districts Get Rain Useful moderate to heavy rains fell in the northern agricultural districts in the 24 hours ended at 8.30 this morning. Light to very light rain fell over most of the State, except in the Far North interior. which remained dry. The Government Meteorologist (Mr. Bromley) said today the heaviest rain was at Melrose which recorded 175 points, accompanied by snow. Other heavy falls were:—Wirrabara, 107 points; Port Pirie .96; Booleroo Centre, 85; Laura. 82; Appila. 80; and Port Germein. 76 Adelaide had 19 points. This rain brought Adelaide's total to 18.88 in. for the year—one point above the average to the end of October, and about 7 in. above the rain total recorded up to this stage last year. Mr. Bromley said it was likely that conditions would remain cold for a day or two, with southerly winds, but finer weather was approaching. He said that snow was unusual in South Australia at this time of the year, but not unprecedented. In 1916 snow fell at Georgetown on November 16. Hail was reported at isolated places in the past 24 hours. This morning there were frosts at Hallett and Burra."

LIGHT SNOW IN HILLSWeather Plays TricksThe weather played some strange tricks in Adelaide yesterday. While Hills residents reported a light fall of snow at about 3 p.m., several suburbs had a sudden, heavy hailstorm. A light fall of snow, which melted as quickly as it touched the ground, was reported by residents of Crafers. Weather reports from Stirling West showed a sudden drop from the maximum temperature of 57 degrees to 41 degrees at about 2.30 p.m. A weather bureau official said that a snowfall in the Mount Lofty Ranges in October was most unusual. It might have been caused by the effects produced by a heavy bank ofcumulo-nimbus cloud. There was also a drop in the temperature in Adelaide. After a maximum of 61 degrees, a fall to 55 was recorded at 2.30 p.m. About this time, hail fell in several suburbs.

The Divisional Meteorologist reported last night:—During the 24 hours ended 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday, rain was recorded throughout the settled areas of South Australia and at places in the north-west interior and north-east. Very useful and moderate to heavy falls occurred in parts of the northern agricultural areas, several gaugings exceeding three-quarters of an inch, the highest being Melrose 175, Wirrabara 107. and Port Pirie 96 points. With few exceptions, the registrations elsewhere, however, were very light to light, although a number of stations received a quarter of an inch or over. The rain was accompanied by cold southerly winds, with some hail at scattered places, and a fall of snow at Melrose. Further scattered showers fell today in the settled areas, but up to 3 p.m. the highest additional amount was 29 points at Stirling West. The day was cold, with maximum temperatures in the fifties at some stations: Stirling West only 49 degrees. At Adelaide from a minimum of 44 degrees the thermometer rose to 60.3 degrees. The large anti-cyclone of 30.4 inches intensity, centrally located at 9 am. along the south coast of Western Australia, is drifting rapidly eastward, and at 3 p.m. covered the greater part of the continent, including this State. Under cold southerly winds on its advancing side, a few clearing showers are likely, but conditions should soon become generally fine in South Australia."

I found reports of only one 2005 snow event in a search of Newstext and other sources including the Weatherzone forums and my diary. It happened on June 21st. It seems to have been a situation where hail and some sleet fell in "the hills" as Adelaidians call their local stretch of the Mt Lofty Ranges, most notably and perhaps only in the Mt Lofty district, and a few people were lucky enough to see some light snow falling along with the sleet.

I didn't find any reports of snow in the Mid-North or Flinders Ranges but given the low temperatures in this weather system it wouldn't surprise me if there were snow showers on the highest peaks including Mt Bryan and Mt Remarkable, where it was unlikely there was anyone there to see and report on it.

Here are snippets from an article in The Advertiser reporting on the weather of the 21st June 2005 (I purchased a copy from Newstext).

The article includes the following text:"YESTERDAY was the wettest June day recorded in Adelaide. In the 24 hours to 9am, a record 54.6mm fell in Adelaide - the highest June total since records began 168 years ago. ... the skies opening didn't bother everyone, with the Wilson and Encel children relishing the falling ice with "snowball fights'' at Mt Lofty Summit.A hailstorm brought Hills residents to the summit in droves - people with cameras capturing the moment and children enjoying the scenery."

The article doesn't mention snow again, but there are other sources that do.

In the thread on the Weatherzone forums "Weatherzone » Forums » Weather Events » South Australia » SA rain band/low 18-20th June 2005"http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/topics/724488/1 , snow was reported, and below I've copied the most snow-relevant posts in the thread I could find. Links to some photos were posted in the thread but links to the ones I checked were broken.

Re: SA rain band/low 18-20th June 2005#724264 - 16/06/2005 12:09 PMThunderstruckLoc: Seaford Meadows, SA...My goodness @ the potential with this low! The thing I like about it is its close proximity to Adelaide, resulting in the likelyhood of some very strong winds, particularly in the early hours of sunday morning or sat night. Could well be a little damage around from the odd tree down on powerlines, odd roof damaged etc.

Basically a low deepends rapidly west of Perth (right now) and draws in a significant quantity of moisture from the NW into it. It then weakens as it moves into the bight, but a new strong cold front will move into the region with another upper trough (cold pool) behind it and this should re-invigorate the low and it should rapidly deepen right in the bight south of Eucla. Areas of rain, light and patchy at first as well as isolated thunderstorms willd evelop in the west later on friday.

As the low intensifies and moves east, more moisture will be drawn down into it from the NW, however the bulk of the moisture and rainband will stream across the interiors of SA and NT along a strong subtropical jetstream.

On saturday this low will be located roughly south of Ceduna and still intensifying, Areas of rain combined with strong to gale force N to NW winds should develop over agricultural areas. Isolated thunderstorms are possible, due to the relatively high instabilty and location of a SE exit region, but the dynamics are not as organised as our last lot of severe thunderstorms on friday evening.

On sunday the low should weaken a little and be centred somewhere south of Adelaide around KI, or just south of here. Strong and squally NW winds will gradually shift W to SW over the course of the day as the low moves east. Showers, isolated thunderstorms and small hail are likely over southern agricultural districts, more frequent and heavier about the southern coasts and ranges.

A second trough should rapidly develop on the western flank of this low and impact on the coastline of the western ag areas, chiefly the EP over the course of the day. Showers and isolated thunder and small hail is likely along with squally SW winds.

#724403 - 20/06/2005 05:21 PMpercy_04Loc: Unley, SA,OMG!!!!!! look at this!!Quote:Isolated snow is possible about the higher ground in the Central and Northern agricultural districts during the eveningthats from the BoM!!!!

#724481 - 21/06/2005 05:38 PMSmittyLoc: Melbourne CityI was on Ch10 smileWill have pics shortly which i am just sending to Tim E. Mostly sleet at the summit but there was some snow!Very cold brrrrrr

#724483 - 21/06/2005 05:38 PMteckertLoc: NE suburbs, Adelaide, South Au...Ummm that doesnt look like snow lol... thats a lot of hail and sleet.... but yer will more than likely snow there now tonight. Phone call from Chris who got his mug on ch 10 to say that yer mostly sleet....

#724485 - 21/06/2005 05:42 PMSmittyLoc: Melbourne CityOk went up there and took some pics of the fog rolling in.... then some drizzle, then a huge bolt of lightning hit the tower and took out the power in the cafe.... basically about 10sec after that, hail and sleet came down.... then some snow arrived... the floating ice particles but mostly it was sleet!Just thoring out now smile

#724494 - 21/06/2005 08:33 PMseaworthyLoc: Gawler East, SA - 102m5.4mm today since 9amso was it snow at mount lofty or hail/sleet? i was considering driving up to mount crawford (525m) where i believe there is a reasonable chance of snow considering its 3.3C there now

There's a substantial report (including some charts and satpics) on the weather of June 21st 2005 on Laurier Williams' Australian Weather News website here http://australianweathernews.com/news/2005/050621.SHTML If that link breaks at some time in the future, you can go here for an archived mht file of the page http://sasnows.com/2005/AustralianWeatherNews21JUN2005Firefox.mht . If you're using Explorer 9, you may need to save the file to your computer first and then open it from there with Explorer 9. I am indebted to Hans on the internet for help with the mystery of why I could open the above file correctly with Explorer 9 on my hard drive but not when I put the same file on sasnows.com. Said Hans in answer to another person with the same issue "Hi, Yes, IE9 will open the MHT page nicely - but you have to save it locally first. Kind regards Hans".

Included is some information about a suspected tornado at or near Wangary on southern Eyre Peninsula, and "Hourly infrared satellite images for SA from 8.30am to 6.30pm. The animation opens with the passage of a frontal cloudband through Adelaide that brought record June rain to the city. An area of strong convection approaches the southern Eyre Peninsula during the morning, and the animation pauses at 1.30pm when a suspected tornado and violent storms were experienced in the Wangary area, marked with a red rectangle. Weatherzone, BoM."

"June 2005 Winter Rains Continue""Temperatures plummeted as conditions continued to degenerate during the day of the 21st. Kingscote, a coastal town on Kangaroo Island recorded the amazing temp of 5.3 degrees. Very impressive for a station near sea level! Lightning, hail and thunder roared through many areas bringing strong winds and rapidly dropping temps. Mt Lofty dropepd to near zero giving a real possibility of snow on the ground. Sure enough reports of snow at Crafers and Mt Lofty plus other ranges locations filtered through. Likely it was sleet and hail, but........ snow flurries perhaps?"

I was unable to find reports of any snow events in 2006 or 2007 on Newstext, in the Weatherzone forums, or in my diary.

I found one recollection of a snowfall in 2007, and I'm wondering if the date 2007 is incorrect, since a fall of snow on Mt Lofty sufficient to form a cover of 2cm or so would usually find its way into at least one of the newspapers and into a Weatherzone forums thread. Or maybe I've simply missed it during the searches - the searches are not foolproof. The recollection is by berga1987, on page 12 of the Snow in South Australian thread http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/topics/1190645/12

Re: Snow in South Australia [Re: Unstable]berga1987 "I wish, Mt Lofty has some sweet lines on it. I remember in 2007 going up to the summit after snow and someone had taken some ski's up there into the 2cm or so of snow that had fallen. Must have been some serious rock hoppers." {end of post}

Here are two other 2007 Weatherzone forums posts relevant to whether snow fell in SA in 2007, posted on 12th and 13th Octobeer 2007 respectively.

Re: South Australian and Adelaide day to day forecasting #21179 - 12/10/2007 05:27 PM Unstable Loc: Adelaide "Now that the South Australian snow skiing season is drawing to a close, I'm wondering if anyone can recall any reports of snow in SA this year. I don't remember a single report either on these forums or elsewhere. Would be rather ususual I think to go through a whole snow season without a single flake falling.Still keeping my skis out though - it's only mid October after all - and to keep in training I'm doing a practice run every morning down the slopes in the freezer ."

Re: South Australian and Adelaide day to day forecasting #21181 - 13/10/2007 08:04 AM Helen Loc: Mid North, SA "Unstable, interesting that you bring up the subject of snow. No reports of the white stuff here in the Mid North this year, that I've heard. In most of the 10 years we've been here, Hallett has had at the very least a light dusting. Not so this year. Even heavy frosts took a hike this year, with only a couple of minus days in our valley.Don't think it really means anything except that the year has been different."

Thanks Chris :-) Almost all of the information relevant to snow in SA is also on my website South Australian Snows here http://sasnows.com . Whenever I add new info into this thread I also add it on the website and I quote or include info added by others too with due acknowledgements. It's in a more organised form on the website because I've included a list of contents on the home page and moved individual items around. I've spent much of the past few months of my spare snowtime moving the contents of the website from one website host to another, much more suitable for the complexity and size of the site. The process also involved checking the site from end to end for errors that may have been introduced during the shift. While thus engaged I haven't publicised the existence of the site while I've been sorting out issues with links and reorganising the site etc.

I'm pretty sure the Bureau would know of the existence of this Weatherzone thread and the website already, but now I've finished the transfer and sorted out the related issues I'll progressively get links posted in various relevant places on the internet. I'm hoping the Bureau will publish some, and eventually all, of its South Australian snow records in due course, but given that the recorded history of SA started in December 1836 which is about 178 years ago, a full and detailed collation of all SA snow records is a very big task indeed and one I am not even contempating attempting

I red this Weatherzone forum thread from end to end on 24th December 2014 while preparing this report, and selected the most snow-relevant posts and snippets from posts as I went, and copied and pasted them below. I didn't have time to proof my "copy and paste" so I don't guarantee I've not made any mistakes or missed relevant snippets. I've included some of the posted photos (the links to others have broken). Here's the results:

A substantial pool of very cold air was moving up over southern SA during daylight hours of Thursday 21st August 2014. The first report of hail on the forum thread was from Liz near Victor Harbor: "Just had a bout of pea sized hail" posted 12:42 PM Weatherzone forum time (not sure if that's SA Central Standard Time). Several people then reported hail in various Adelaide suburbs during the afternoon.

At 558pm forum time, teckert commented (I presume reading from the Lofty AWS on the internet) "1.5C at Lofty!!! very close to snowing now IMO..."

James Chambers posted at 559pm forum time "Hi all... just got a report from Rod who is at Mt Lofty with his partner and MB... he reports snow is currently falling! He said it's not settling, but it's definitely snow." Meanwhile seaworthy was heading to the Lofty summit.

At 08:19 PM forum time teckert posted "Currently snowing on Mt Lofty!" but doesn't say where the snow report orginated - perhaps seaworthy sent him a message.

At 08:55 PM forum time Tim Thorpe posted from the Bull Creek Range near Meadows:"... Is getting colder, but not cold enough. Now 2.4 and the streams have popped to be either side. On the edge of both but nothing more than that. In that though is more hail than rain, but still very light and doesn't really gauge anything. Don't rely on the radar, its seeing the snow/ice virga that doesn't reach ground and is somewhat off. Better late than never I guess (still haven't had tea!!), A few pics from this sunset time as a line of coldie cells moved up from the south."

Snow ice "virga" for want of a better word.

Wet piles of cold air cloud on the south coast

Small mamma type formation. Looked better in real life

The southern view panorama with line of coldies

At 09:56 PM forum time seaworthy posted "Just been up to Mount Lofty.... fantastic! Had mostly just hail showers in the beginning before it finally snowed later on. Was snow and sleet mixed in, varying between the two at the snap of a finger."

Roddy visiting from the Northern Territory posted at 10:52 PM "Gyday all, MB, Alison, Sonya and myself enjoyed an afternoon and evening at Mt Lofty today with Dinner at the Summit resturant. 30mins prior to sunset we hade some lovely sleet wich turned to wet snow for a few mins.Later on during dinner some sago snow fell. At 9pm we jumped in the car in time to see just down the road a nice snow flurry which was dry!! Back at the Motel in Adelaide now - sorry we missed ya up there seaworthy. Here are two pics from 9pm." The photos are still in the thread I'm glad to report.

Tim Thorpe posted at 1135pm forum time from his home in the Bull Creek Range near Meadows that he'd stood out in a sleet shower and he posted the photo below.

Teckert reported at 11:39 PM forum time that the Lofty temp was "0.1 at Lofty now.... very tempted to head up there now... but I will wait till 5am or so...". At 1147 he posted "Make that -0.1 laugh I cant actually recall seeing it below zero on lofty? Wouldve but gee I havent seen it...Snow would be settling now...."

Seaworthy posted at 1150pm forum time "A pic from the summit anyway.. not the best but something =] I was more just enjoying the flakes waffle down and make hardly any noise on the ground... " The photo seems to have disappeared from the thread.

At 02:07 AM morning of the 22nd forum time teckert posted "Hope he doesnt mind me posting it up here, but here's a link to some pics taken up on Mt Lofty of the settled snow... http://www.flickr.com/photos/willraja/ Taken by a 'William' on the Ski.com.au forums". They are still at that link when I checked on 23rd December 2014.

At 6.22am on 22nd forum time teckert posted "still quite a few showers moving up the ranges.... not making it much further than Mt Crawford area though, so looks like snow falls would be restricted to south of that...Nuri is at 0.3C but no precip is maiking it up to the Barossa.."

Teckert posted at 07:43 AM forum time "up at the summit atm. Cold but not much snow actually on ground. Will wait 4 a shower but doubt it will snow now".

At 08:27 AM forum time bd bucketingdown posted from Nairn "... some sleet and some hail, but no real snow other than an odd flake or two embedded last night."

2008 August 21st-22nd: snow showers on Mt. Lofty and snow also reported from Crafers and Stirling Pt 2 (continued from above post).

Paisley at 09:05 AM forum time posted:"Hi all, Yep - just poor timing for this one. Kudos to the brave souls who went up last night! Like Tim E I did a 'dawn raid' on the summit, but it was pretty clear that the air was now too dry. Although there was still a little snow in what clouds there were, you'd have to be lucky to bullseye anything. However, since it was a SE airstream, I figured what accumulation there was must have been on the SE slopes, and sure enough there's still plenty of evidence that it snowed last night..." and he posted two photos of some snow patches on logs and the ground.

01:22 PM forum time on 22nd bd bucketingdown posted: "Drove through a sleet shower at Woodside at about 12.30pm today!"

At 02:40 PM forum time I posted this: "I dreamed I went rabbit spotting in the hills from 2am to 7am - saw two dream bunnies inside one of the television tower enclosures on Mount Lofty and two dream bunnies on the footpath outside someone's house in Mount Barker Springs. So it was quite a successful dream bunny-spotting expedition smile .By the way, in my dream I saw no falling snow - only a few light showers (mostly drizzle), and some fog on Mount Lofty. Just weren't any good dream shower clouds around of the kind that make dream snow.Good thing for my health it was a dream and not for real though - what kind of deranged weatherwatcher would spend five hours in the hills in literally freezing temps on a night like that :rolleyes: .". (As you've probably guessed this was not a dream but a reality.)

Teckert posted at 03:27 PM "Just my pics from this morning at Mt Lofty...". They've since disappeared from the forum thread.

At 03:30 PM forum time paisley posted "Still a bit surprised we haven't heard of any falls further north - but I guess the moisture just wasn't there...". At 03:37 PM teckert posted: "BOM notes do state snow fell over the Flinders so must have been some report/s....".

Helen posted from Booborowie at 400pm forum time "Certainly not around this area (or even Hallett for that matter, according to Tracie), so maybe further north around Mt Remarkable?"

Anthony Cornelius posted on 23rd at 07:37 AM forum time "Yesterday Bryan, Lennie, Ben (Seaworthy) and I went up to Mt Lofty. No snow, but a coldie moved over and gave some small hail (ie 2mm size hail)." End of quotes from the Weatherzone thread. Now here is the 128 km BoM Adelaide (Buckland Park) Radar Loop as archived by The Weather Chaser website, for Thursday 21 Aug 2008 03:10:00 GMT which is 21/8/2008 12:40:00 pmto Friday 22 Aug 2008 03:00:00 GMT which is 22/8/2008 12:30:00 pm.I'm not sure whether the "which is" times are eastern standard times or central standard times so I'll leave you to figure that one out if you need to know.

That's about all the relevant information I was able to find on this snow event.

If teckert and seaworthy are reading this, if you can locate your images missing from the abovementioned Weatherzone thread, maybe you could post them here :-) I looked on the internet archive website https://web.archive.org but wasn't able to find them. I did find this though: http://www.weatherchase.net "Saved 54 times between August 18, 2004 and December 18, 2014." I sampled a couple of their saved pages - looks like the thumbnail images are saved but not the full-sized images (you probably know all this already).

I'd like to put some of the images posted into the abovementioned thread by hillsrain, paisley, teckert, seaworthy, and Roddy, onto sasnows.com, with due acknowledge-ments. Maybe any of you reading this could let me know yay or nay by posting here or sending me a pm? Otherwise I will ask by sending you pms. Together the images make up most of the photographic record I've been able to find for this event, and teckert located an additional set of images on Flickr which are still there, so I'll try and get the okay from the photographer to put a selection of those onto sasnows.com too. By the way the photo on the ABC website "Snow Reported in Adelaide Hills" http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-08-11/snow-reported-in-adelaide-hills-file-photo/485644 is a "file photo" which I presume means it's not from this event. If that's the case I hope the practice of using file photos without saying so in the accompanying photo captions has been abandoned since 2008.

Here's an account of the snowfall as experienced by Tim Eckert who was staying overnight at Lobethal. This was published on his website Weatherchase.net http://www.weatherchase.net along with 5 photos earlier posted onto page 2. I've sourced this account from the internet archive website http://archive.org here https://web.archive.org/web/20070725222711/http://au.geocities.com/timjeckert/1996.html (copy and paste link into address window).

"18th August 1996I have only ever seen snow once in my life and it was by chance. I happened to be staying overnight at Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills for a 21st. It was a very cold night for the party but there were no suggestions of any light snow for the hills, but we were woken up at 6am to a cry of 'snow'! The scene was absolutely amazing to my eyes. It wasn't just lightly falling - this was coming down nicely and settling to a depth of 2cm where we were. I spent the next 2 hours walking the streets of Lobethal with my camera, taking it all in. The snow eventually stopped falling at about 8am when the sun started shining between falls and warmed the atmosphere.Apparently the snow was caused by an exceptionally cold air mass bringing extensive snowfalls to the Adelaide Hills, parts of the Barossa Valley and the Mid North. According to the BOM and locals, it was one of the heaviest snowfalls experienced in the Adelaide Hills for many years. It remains probably one of my most amazing memories of my life."

Tim is it okay if I post this account onto sasnows.com? Published personal experiences longer than one or two sentences of most past snow events in SA are as rare as hens teeth.

yep that's fine Unstable. Sorry my reports/photos are not up to date anymore with many bad links etc.... One day they will get fixed.I'll see if I get a chance to look for those other pics sometime soon. Work today & xmas stuff tomorrow.

More on 18th August 1996, and mention of a big snowfall July 3rd 1984.

Thanks TS On the topic of the 18th August 1996 snow event, I said in an above post that this event was said by The Advertiser to be South Australia's "most widespread snow falls in 12 years". Further down in the article it says: "Bureau of Meteorology technical officer Mr Peter Webb said the snow was caused by an "exceptionally cold'' air mass over Adelaide. At 10,000ft above sea level the temperature was minus 15 degrees.The Mt Lofty automatic weather station recorded a low of minus 0.5 degrees at 8am."There hasn't been a fall of this magnitude since July 3, 1984,'' Mr Webb said.Snow in the Mt Lofty area had been reported on 137 occasions since 1841. The last fall, in September, 1995, was very brief. "Usually it just falls and melts, but it was cold enough this morning for it to stay on the ground,'' Mr Webb said."

I don't recall the July 3, 1984 snowfall, and it's in the black hole on the internet between Trove's database which doesn't include newspapers more recent than 1954, and the Newstext database which doesn't cover any SA newspapers older than January 1986. Newstext does cover two Queensland newspapers in 1984 though, and search results for early July 1984 returns many reports of snow and extremely cold temperatures in Queensland on and about 3rd and 4th July 1984 and references to snow further south. For example "COURIER-MAIL, 04-07-1984, Ed: 2 - FIRST WITH THE NEWS, Pg: 001, 592 words ,Icy Antarctic blast sweeps Queensland By BRIAN JOHNSTON MOST of Queensland shivered yesterday as a blast of Antarctic air from southern oceans brought freezing winds, hail, sleet and snow to eastern Australia. After a day of bitter cold, the mercury ..." and"TELEGRAPH, 04-07-1984, Ed: 1 - CITY, Pg: 001, 191 words ,Queenslanders went to work today frozen stiff after Antarctic gales blasted wide areas of the State. After another night of howling winds and bitter cold, light snowfalls continued on the Darling Downs and on the Granite Belt. Wind gusts reached 100k... "

If anyone has any info on the July 3rd 1984 SA snow event, please post!

During the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 I kept a close eye on the weather and an ear on the grapevine and to the best of my knowledge there were no reports of what were unequivocally snowflakes falling in any of those years.

There was one report of frozen particles which might have been some kind of snowflakes briefly falling between Mt Lofty and Mt. Bonython. You can read a report by Chris Handler about this sighting which includes a couple of photos of the flaky particles on Chris's black jacket for you to ponder on. The report is in sasnows.com at http://sasnows.com/ChrisSnowflakesJuly2009/ChrisFlakesJuly2009.html. Chris originally reported this sighting on the Weatherzone forums in a post here: Re: SA - Trough and Fronts with Rain and Showers, 10th to 16th July [OBS] http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/topics/285834/37 . There's also some brief discussion on whether it could have been snowflakes, in a few of the following posts in that thread.

Here is a post I made on 30th October 2011 in the Weatherzone forums, which summarises my knowledge about snowfalls or the lack thereof in the years 2009 to 2011 up till that time.Re: South Australian and Adelaide day to day forecasting [Re: Thunderstruck] http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1025288/#1025288 - 30/10/2011 06:53 AM "Tomorrow is the last official day of the South Australian snow season ... .Not a single flake of snow has been reported in South Australia this season as far as I know ... . That's the third year in a row without any snow reported, except for one observation of some small white objects falling on Mount Lofty and resting on Chris's black garment last year or was it the one before I forget. The last fall of what was undoubtedly snow reported was in 2008.I know the memory can compress things so it seems events such as snow and storms ... were more common in the past, but three years without any snow? Bit of a worry really." {end of quote}

If I get time I'll search on Newstext for any reports that may have escaped my attention in those years. I'll be surprised if I find any. Mind you, no reports of snow doesn't necessarily mean no snow fell anywhere. Recent experience suggests that usually there are no people on the summits of the highest peaks of the Mid-North and Flinders Ranges when the weather provides the possibility of snow falling. And if anyone does see snow fall on a summit or anywhere else, word of the observation may never reach the media or the grapevine.

I don't know how many other three-year periods have been so bereft of snowfall in SA but I would guess it's been a pretty rare occurrence.

1948 August 23rd Peterborough: a substantial snowfall and a table of Peterborough snowfalls from 1888 to 1948.

The article below reports on a substantial fall of snow at Peterborough on Monday 23rd August 1948, and says that "The fall of snow covered a big area of the upper north, ranging from Burra, Nackara, Belalie, Erskine and Cavenagh." The article includes a table with records of snowfalls at Peterborough from 1888 to 1948. I don't know how accurate the table is. At the bottom of this item I've added a screen-grab image of the table in the original article.

I've quoted only the snow-relevant parts of the full article. Note that I've switched the order of paragraphs two and three below because of the puzzling layout of the original article.

FALL OF SNOW AT PETERBOROUGHLovely Early Morning Sight156 Points of Rain

Those who were out of bed between 1 and 6 a.m. on Monday morning saw one of the heaviest falls of snow since 1932. It was bitterly cold and blustery all Sunday and some very heavy showers of rain fell after dark. The snow came soon after 1 a.m. and fell al- most continually until 3 o'clock and again for about half an hour at 6 o'clock. Many townspeople and the children scrambled eagerly out of bed to see the glorious sight.

The fall of snow covered a big area of the upper north, ranging from Burra, Nackara, Belalie, Erskine and Cavenagh.

We were asked when snow last fell at Peterborough and could not remember just the date and how heavy it was. With the help and information supplied by the Meteor- ological Departments of Melbourne and Adelaide we have compiled the following data, which we hope will be interesting to our readers.